The Ragged Misfits
by Matty.Merlotte
Summary: How have I ever not come across Fred Weasley the Second after five years at Hogwarts?


I settle myself down against the big oak tree, the bark scraping against my robes. My bag falls to my side with a thud and my red apple rolls out and into the lake. I grunt and pull my bag closer into myself.

_Just my luck,_ I think.

The apple is bobbing in the water, gently going against the current. The poor apple doesn't have a chance in that big lake. Just like me.

I don't know what I'm doing here, I don't belong here. My family back home had no idea what we were getting ourselves into, well, what I was getting myself into. They were ecstatic after I received my letter. It was my greatest accomplishment.

Not that I haven't had a great couple of weeks so far, as far as my academics go. I'm excelling in all my classes, even the hard ones, which are not even that difficult in the first place. Potions I think is my favorite though, there is so much experimentation and chemistry and I seem to have a knack for it so far. It really is a beautiful subject.

I can't help to realize that I haven't made one decent friend yet. It makes me feel so uncomfortable walking these huge halls every day without anyone by my side. Don't get me wrong, I have friends, just not the best friends everything thinks you have when you go off to school. It's been five years since I started at Hogwarts. It's an absolute mystery how alone I feel. Everyone else has their own cliques by now. I'm such the odd one out.

The only person gently assisting me through all of this is my cousin Teddy. I'm the closest family member he has, yet he always seems so busy with his own friends to deal with me. The first three years we were inseparable, but it all changed when he got his first girlfriend.

I feel like such a burden to him, which I know would break his heart if I told him, but I don't have spine to ask him to include me.

It's as if I am Rudolph and I'm begging to be part of the reindeer games.

I hate begging.

The wind begins to pick up and drag my curls away from me. The cool misty breeze feels good against my skin. I still haven't taken my eyes off of the red apple fighting against current.

I pull out my Charms book and begin to study for the test I have next class. If it wasn't for the large amount of time I spent sitting by the lake studying I wouldn't be the student I am. I wouldn't call myself unapproachable but I also don't put myself in a lot of social situations. I like where I am, but I also hate it.

I probably know more about this lake than anyone else at Hogwarts anyway, and that's almost comforting. I feel like I belong down there, with those creatures below the water.

From behind me, I can hear feet shuffling through the bright orange and yellow leaves that have fallen off the tree I'm leaning against. I don't dare lift my eyes from my book resting in my lap, but from the corner of my eye I see a tall figure gazing at the water. Possibly wondering where the bobbing red apple came from.

I look up to see that it's a boy in Gryffindor robes, with lanky arms and lengthy legs. His skin is caramel colored and hair is smoldering black. He looks like he stepped out of a modeling magazine for Hogwarts. I can feel my heart begin to flutter.

Oh, crap.

I immediately pull my head back to my book, hoping he didn't see me staring. He is so distracting that I read the sentence over about seven times before I gaze back up to him. I rest my head in my hands and gawk in his direction.

His arms folded and his back is straight and tense.

I wonder what his story is, I wonder who he is. I've never seen him before and this is a relatively hard school and he looks like he stepped out of a fairy-tale. He looks like Prince Charming.

Eventually he steps away from the lake and looks in my direction and waves. I immediately check my surroundings, looking for other students he could be waving too, but just my luck, I'm the only one around.

After looking like an idiot searching around, I wave back and he slightly giggles because I see his teeth shine and his shoulders move.

This boy starts walking over to me and I feel my hear racing once again. Prince Charming is coming right to me and I can't avoid his gaze at this point.

I shuffle around my paper and books. Should I stand or keep sitting? I don't even know what I look like now. I could be absolutely hideous, with makeup smears and tangled hair. I could be an absolute mess.

"Hey, I'm sorry to bother you. I can see you're busy studying, but I was wondering if your Charms book had the Water-Making spell. My book was bought used, and well, the page was out," the boy stammered.

I didn't focus on anything he said, something about charms, sure, but what I was too busy staring at how long his eyelashes were, how he was so tall his robes barely touched the ground, the way his green eyes sparkled against the setting sun, and the way he cradled the rest of his books in his hands. I can't even look at him, let alone respond to his question.

"Oh, well sure. You're more than welcome to copy the page down if you'd like," I offer, trying not to sound over eager.

A smile crosses his face. "You're amazing! Do you mind if I sit next to you?"  
"No, not at all."

He sits down next to me as I hand him my charms book. He flips to the page and starts writing.

"Thank you so much. You're truly my hero at this moment. You're the first person I found around here willing to help me. Do I seem that untrustworthy or something?"

I take his question as rhetorical so I save myself the embarrassment of saying something strange and don't speak at all. I feel my pulse increasing every breath I take. Since he sat down I smell his cologne, he smells like warm spices and it reminds me of autumn.

He is still copying down the page as he starts talking again, "So, is that like your natural hair color or what? It's so peculiar looking. It's like white, but there's like a hint of blue. It's like a pale color. I don't know how to explain it."

I furrow my eyebrows and roll my neck. "What?" is my only response.

"What?" he says and looks up from the paper at my reaction. "Oh, I'm sorry! That was so mean. Please forgive me. That sounded rude and ignorant. It is a rather pretty color let me tell you."

I start to laugh, "No need to back pedal there. To answer your question, yes it's natural. I don't know how but yes. As far as your arrogance goes, you better watch yourself."

He nudges me and starts to laugh. Once he stops he looks at me and twirls his pencil through my curls.

"Why haven't I seen you before? You would think if you would stick out from all these people," he says.

I feel my face glowing red and my cheeks are burning like fire. My face is so pale any color shows brightly on my skin so I look down.

"Well, I'm not so-o sure," I stutter.

He turns back to his page which probably seems more interesting than I do now. Maybe this is why I don't have any friends. I can't even hold a conversation with anyone. I guess I might have to give myself some decent credit, this boy has my heart racing a mile a minute.

He close my book and hands it back to me. "Thank you, Missy. You're so nice. I'm so sorry I had to bother you but I couldn't find anyone else that would offer to help me."

I shake my head. "Quit apologizing, it's perfectly fine with me, but just for future reference my name isn't Missy."

He stands up and brushes the leaves off his robes. He raises an eyebrow.

"Oh really then? What is it now?"

"It's Remi, Remi Tonks." I say and stick out my hand for him to shake.

"Remi Tonks, really, how have I ever not met you?" He smiles with such sincerity I can't but to keep staring at him.

"Well, are you going to finally introduce yourself? We've been speaking for the past half hour after all," I point out.

He looks around before telling me, as if it's a secret. "Yeah, I'm Fred Weasley," he states fiercely and shakes my hand.

Another Weasley, now really, how have I not met him before?


End file.
